Within the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, perspective is defined to be the narrating mental view point of a soldier and central character Paul Bäumer. The author, through Paul, expresses the mindset of a german soldier on the fronts during World War I. The book mentions the different aspects of war through the eyes of paul. His perspective includes the discussion of things such as death, camaraderie, and questioning the pointlessness of war.
1st person:
Described from a persons personal point of view, in their eyes. there are limitations in this type of perspective, because it only speaks of what the character knows
Example: Pauls perspective when he encounters the traumatic experience with the French soldier (Duval) and describes the situation and his emotions etc. after killing Duval.
>
The book itself is written in the first person, because it is narrated by a central character, Paul Bäumer
3rd person:
"having complete or unlimited knowledge, awareness, or understanding; perceiving all things " - Dictionary.com. 3rd person is the same as the omniscient perspective, it is when a character is talked about viewed as a whole. From this perspective, you are all knowing and know more than the character himself/herself/itself knows, basically you know everything that is going on in the novel, much like a "God".
There is no use of the third person perspective in the novel All Quiet on the western front, because it is already in the first person.
Perspective
Within the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, perspective is defined to be the narrating mental view point of a soldier and central character Paul Bäumer. The author, through Paul, expresses the mindset of a german soldier on the fronts during World War I. The book mentions the different aspects of war through the eyes of paul. His perspective includes the discussion of things such as death, camaraderie, and questioning the pointlessness of war.
1st person:
Described from a persons personal point of view, in their eyes. there are limitations in this type of perspective, because it only speaks of what the character knows
- Example: Pauls perspective when he encounters the traumatic experience with the French soldier (Duval) and describes the situation and his emotions etc. after killing Duval.
>The book itself is written in the first person, because it is narrated by a central character, Paul Bäumer
3rd person:
"having complete or unlimited knowledge, awareness, or understanding; perceiving all things " - Dictionary.com. 3rd person is the same as the omniscient perspective, it is when a character is talked about viewed as a whole. From this perspective, you are all knowing and know more than the character himself/herself/itself knows, basically you know everything that is going on in the novel, much like a "God".
Click Here For More on the different types of perspective